


Staying Close

by zungeonsandzaddies



Category: Dungeons and Daddies (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Light Angst, M/M, Nick/Terry Jr. if you squint, Nicolas Close Has Abandonment Issues, reference to possible substance abuse, trans nick if you squint too :')
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:34:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29128815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zungeonsandzaddies/pseuds/zungeonsandzaddies
Summary: Takes place after Episode 30: Van on the Run~The dads have just saved their sons from Castle Ravenloft, and they're finally all reunited for a night together at the inn. Nick is excited to be back with his dad, his best friend, his partner in crime. But something's up between Glenn and that weird mf, Henry Oak.
Relationships: Christmas Rock, Glenn Close/Henry Oak
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	Staying Close

**Author's Note:**

> heyyyy I wrote another Nick-centered fic bc he takes up 90% of my brain space
> 
> wanted to explore the separation anxiety/abandonment issues Nick surely has, as well as Glenn's unhealthy way of dealing with emotions and how he's passing that onto his son
> 
> ...while also writing just enough glennry to leave you wanting more ;;;)
> 
> CW: discussion of potential substance abuse (marijuana)

Nick wasn’t scared of much. It wasn’t, like, fucking cool to be scared. He’d grown up watching horror movies with his dad, he’d been to his fair share of mosh pits (at least for a 13-year-old), he’d gotten tied up with more than a few bad dudes just trying to get some weed. He was a badass, always had been, he wasn’t afraid of anything. 

And, yeah, it was fucking crazy as shit when he was kidnapped by the Purple Robes. Even crazier when he found out one of them was his granddad. But Bill wasn’t, like, a real threat or anything, and Nick knew he and his friends were being held as leverage so their dads would come to Castle Ravenloft, so they weren’t in serious danger. 

And their dads did come to save them. They took their fucking time, or at least it felt like they did, because by the time they got to the tower, Nick was bored out of his goddamn mind and didn’t think he’d eaten in approximately three days. He’d gotten small rations of food, but he’d given all of it over to the other boys. Nick didn’t have the same sort of endless abyss of a stomach that other teenage boys had, so he could survive with less food. Terry Jr. always looked on at Nick in pity, but Nick didn’t fucking care. He was used to taking care of himself. He’d manage.

When they got to the inn, though, Nick was admittedly never happier to see food in his life. Despite its public-school-cafeteria-type appearance, Nick couldn’t seem to inhale the stuff fast enough. He almost choked once, he was eating so fast, and Henry did a whole heimlich maneuver on him. Even though he would’ve been fine. It was just a bit of bread that went down the wrong way. 

Henry was a weird dude. He was like a helicopter parent pretending not to be a helicopter parent. Nick didn’t think he’d ever met a dude with less chill. It wasn’t surprising, now having spent time getting to know Henry in the Forgotten Realms, that Lark and Sparrow were so conniving. They obviously learned early on that they’d have to work as a team to escape Henry’s eagle eye on them, and boy, had they honed that skill. Nick was observant, but even he didn’t notice half the shit those monsters were plotting until their plan was already put into action. He’d never learned how to go behind people’s backs like that. He’d never had to, since his dad was so chill with everything. Nick was grateful for that. 

Once again, he was reminded that he really did have the best dad in the world. He was his best friend. It doesn’t get better than that. And watching Glenn make fun of Henry was pretty fun.

“Henry, aren’t you busy enough making sure your kids haven’t run off every two seconds? You don’t have to parent my kid, too, you know.”

Henry became defensive. “I don’t have to let another man’s son choke to death just because I have kids of my own!”

Glenn laughed and ruffled Henry’s hair, almost the same way he liked to ruffle Nick’s hair, which made Henry look embarrassed. “Nick’s a tough kid, he can hack up a tiny piece of food.” 

Henry tried to maintain a stoic face. “Choking is no laughing matter. A patron at the San Dimas Museum of Natural History died from choking just a few months ago because no one around him took the danger seriously.”

Glenn smirked. “Mmhm, and if you were there, you would’ve played the hero and saved his life, huh?”

Henry spluttered. “N-no, that’s not what I’m saying—”

“Thank you, Great Henry Oak, for saving my son’s life—”

“I just didn’t want to have—”

“God was dead to me before, but perhaps He was right in front of me the whole time—”

“I didn’t want to have saved Nick from our dads only to lose him to a piece of bread two hours later!”

Glenn stopped. Then he burst out laughing, and Henry started laughing with him. 

“Yeah,” Glenn said, “That would be fucking unfortunate, wouldn’t it?”

“I’m telling you, we can’t be too careful,” Henry insisted, smiling now.

“So you didn’t save Nick’s life just to win my praise.”

“Please, Glenn. I don’t need to save your son’s life just to win your praise. You sing my praises often enough when our sons aren’t involved.” 

Now Glenn made a face that Nick didn’t quite recognize. He hadn’t seen Glenn look at anyone that way. Somewhere between playful and… mad? No, that wasn’t quite right… challenging? He almost looked like he was challenging Henry. Whatever the look was, it shut Henry up. Weird. That hippie never shut the hell up. 

“Hey man,” Nick heard his dad say, drawing him out of his head, “You done eating yet? Shit, maybe you really are a teenage boy.”

“Shut up,” Nick said, shoving Glenn. “We’ve split family-size orders of Chinese food hundreds of times.”

“Touché,” Glenn said, holding his hand out for a fist bump. Nick grinned and completed the fist bump. 

“I am done, though,” Nick said. It seemed the rest of the kids had slowed down as well, and Sparrow was starting to doze off on Lark’s shoulder. They’d had a long day. 

“Why don’t we head on up to our rooms?” Henry said, hopping up out of his seat. Somehow, he still seemed to have as much energy as a small puppy. Glenn smirked, and Nick tried to meet his eyes to share in the joke, but his dad was looking up at Henry.

“Good idea,” Darryl replied, getting up himself, “We’re going to have to get up bright and early tomorrow and keep driving. Have to outrun Willy and the others.”

Ron seemed to wince at his father’s name. Terry Jr. gave his stepdad a sideways glance, looking concerned. Nick nudged his foot from under the table, and when Terry looked up at him, Nick gave him a reassuring smile. The corner of Terry’s mouth turned up a bit, which was about the best Nick could probably hope for. 

When they got upstairs, the sleeping situation seemed pretty self-explanatory. There were two rooms side by side, connected by a door, and four beds. Henry gently laid a drowsy Sparrow in one of the beds in the first room, and Lark snuggled willingly under the covers next to his brother. Ron had barely gotten his shoes off before he was curled up in the fetal position in the other bed, and since he hardly took up a fourth of the bed, Terry readily volunteered to sleep next to him. 

“We’re family, after all,” Terry Jr. said softly, and Nick smiled. He could tell Terry was about as surprised as the rest of them to hear that come out of his mouth. Nick could’ve sworn he saw tears forming in Henry’s eyes, but the man turned around before he could confirm it. Weird ass dude. 

Not that feelings were bad or anything, but Henry seemed to cry at absolutely everything. Nick guessed he just hadn’t seen a lot of grown men cry in his life. His dad certainly never shed a tear. Or showed much emotion at all, now that he thought about it. 

Of course, Glenn got excited as hell about stuff like electric guitars and aliens. And he was always in a pretty happy, chill mood. 

But he didn’t cry. Or let anything get to him, really. 

Well. Who was Nick to complain about having a dad who was always down to vibe? The weed probably helped mellow him out, too. Glenn always seemed to smoke more around the anniversary of Nick’s mom’s death. Just another coping strategy. Couldn’t be that big a deal. Glenn was always telling Nick that weed isn’t technically addictive, anyway, so it couldn’t hurt to smoke more when you’re not wanting to feel fucking depressed. 

That was probably why he’d never seen Glenn cry. Yeah. He just knew how to nip the emotions in the bud. Smart, really. Why feel sad if you can avoid it and get high all in one go?

The rest of the team made their way into the second bedroom. Nick and Glenn, on the same page as usual, immediately took the bed next to the window. They high-fived after leaping onto the bed together, laughing. Always take the bed next to the window. Further from the door, so if anyone breaks in, they get to you last, and closer to the window, so you can escape that way if there’s a fire or some shit. 

Also, you do not want to be near the bathroom, which was closer to the door, just in case the toilet or the bathroom fan or something is especially loud. Nick supposed there probably wasn’t a fan in a bathroom in the Forgotten Realms, but still. 

“Someone feels strongly about that side of the room,” Darryl commented, always managing to be judgy even about the smallest things. Nick rolled his eyes. Narc. 

“Nick and I just know how to pick a hotel bed,” Glenn replied, slinging his arm around his son, who beamed, “Unlike you suckers.”

Grant just gave Nick a look, as if saying, “I don’t understand it, but I respect it,” which was a look that Nick often got from Grant.

As they got ready for bed, Darryl felt the need to talk through the planning of their entire morning schedule seemingly minute-by-minute. Nick finger tutted to his dad, asking if the man was always like this, and Glenn responded with a very definitive ‘yes’. 

‘Wannabe coach,’ Nick replied silently. Glenn laughed.

Nick liked making his dad laugh. And something about the way Henry had made Glenn laugh had gotten on Nick’s nerves, so he was glad to have gotten in one father-son joke before bed.

By the time Darryl extinguished all the candles in the room, Nick was most definitely ready to sink into a deep, deep sleep. He lay turned towards Glenn, who was facing the window. Nick smiled as he remembered the last time they’d shared a bed—Nick had had a really fucking powerful edible a few months ago, and Glenn had slept next to him to keep him safe. 

After everything that happened with Bill and the others, Nick was glad to be sleeping next to his dad. Glenn made him feel safe.

Nick watched in the dark as his dad’s silhouette rose and fell, mimicked the rhythm of his breaths, and dozed easily off to sleep. 

***

Nick stirred awake, a bit disoriented. It was still very dark in the room, and he hardly felt like he’d slept at all. Nick noticed his dad was no longer in the bed next to him, and he started to turn over to see if maybe there was a light on in the bathroom, but when he heard voices, he froze.

“Really, Glenn?” He heard Darryl whisper. 

“What, man?” His dad whispered back. 

“Tonight? We just got our sons back.”

“Exactly. Reason for celebration.”

“There are kids in that room, too, you know.”

“Not in the bathroom.”

“That’s disgusting, Glenn.”

“Pretty sure Henry hasn’t taken a proper shower since before we left, so I don’t think it really matters.”

“We should be resting. Aren’t you exhausted after today?”

“Of course I’m exhausted, but I’m not the one driving. I can sleep in the car tomorrow.”

“I need you at the top of your game.”

“Thanks, coach, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I just mean—”

“Are you jealous?”

Silence.

“What? What— No. I’m not… Glenn, I’m married.”

“Whatever, man.”

“Your own dad tried to take Nick from you because he doesn’t think you’re a good father. Don’t you think you might be proving him right by doing this?”

Silence again. This time it was so long, Nick thought he’d accidentally fallen back asleep and missed the rest of the conversation when he heard his dad’s whispered voice again, level and cool as ever.

“You’re the only one of us who didn’t have to see your dad again today. You can’t say shit.”

“Glenn—”

“Go to sleep, dude.”

Nick heard the door between the two rooms click open and shut again. 

Crickets sounded outside. A group of people made a ruckus as they tumbled out of the bar downstairs and into the night. The sheets rustled in the bed next to Nick’s as someone turned over in their sleep. The bathroom door in the next room creaked as it opened and shut.

Nick didn’t know how long he laid awake in the pitch blackness. He couldn’t bring himself to close his eyes, but it didn’t really matter, since he couldn’t see anything with his eyes open anyway. Clouds had moved to cover the moon, and the pale light streaming in through the window had disappeared completely.

***

At some point, Nick must have drifted back to sleep again, because he woke up to the sound of laughter and mattress springs squeaking in the room next door. Lark and Sparrow must have gotten their beauty sleep. 

Nick sat up in bed just as his dad walked out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. He was buck naked, and Nick scrunched up his nose as Darryl averted his eyes and Grant blushed furiously. 

“God, put on some fucking clothes, Glenn,” Nick said. 

“Hey man, cool it, I left my clothes out here,” Glenn responded. He ruffled Nick’s hair as he passed by the bed and grabbed his clothes, then he went back into the bathroom and shut the door behind him. 

Sunlight poured into the room. Lark and Sparrow were certainly waking up the entire inn from the next room. Darryl had a piece of paper and pencil out, and he was muttering to himself as he worked on the schedule he was creating. Grant hummed softly to himself as he fixed his bedhead in the mirror. The world was awake.

Maybe Nick had dreamt the whispered conversation from last night. It was a bit blurry, even now, and he hadn’t really known what all of it meant, even in the moment. He didn’t feel super well-rested—maybe he had just had a wack ass dream. 

“How’d you sleep, Nick?” Darryl asked from the other bed. 

“Fine.” 

“Good. Good.”

Nick locked eyes with Darryl, and the look in his eyes was familiar. That was a look of pity. Nick had become very familiar with that look after his mother died. 

His stomach sank a bit. 

“Did, uh…” Nick started, somewhat unable to keep himself from confirming his fear, “Did my dad, like, sleep here the whole night?”

Darryl stared at Nick, expression unchanging. After a moment, he answered. 

“Yeah. Glenn stayed next to you the whole night, Nick.”

And fuck, Nick wished he could believe him. At least he was kind enough to lie. Maybe Darryl wasn’t as much of a narc as Nick thought.

It didn’t matter if he left. It was just one night of sleep. Glenn had come back to their room—Glenn always came back. It didn’t matter if he left, or for how long, he always came back. And Nick didn’t get scared. He was a badass, always had been, he wasn’t afraid of anything. He could sleep alone. It didn’t matter if he left. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter.

Nick rolled out of bed and desperately wished he had some fucking weed.

**Author's Note:**

> it's kinda hard to write flirting/nsfw stuff between the dads when nick is a 13-year-old kid who doesn't see what's happening as clearly as I want you, dear readers, to see what's happening. But. I tried!
> 
> all the ins and outs of this made so much sense in my head but it's also 2am and I wrote this all in one go so I hope everything comes across but hey you don't know what you're missing if you don't know what you're missing right lmao


End file.
